Possible Future Blog Posts

These are some of the topics I am interested in in the form of a question. I have also provided brief descriptions about them, giving you an idea of what I will be writing about.

Is There a Language of Thought? – This is going to be a dedicate post to why I think we do not think in language. I use some results from neuroscience and some of my own observations to structure my argument(s).

Am I a Contradiction? – This blog post will explore the various contradictions we may harbor between our beliefs. I think that we go through life with some contradictions. After all, we are not logic machines. There are a number of books that speak to our irrationality, which I may have to read at least one to help my arguments along.

What in the Mind is Free Will? – This will be my explanation about what freewill is, and what it enables us to do. To let the cat (Baxter) out of the bag, which I have in other posts, it has to do with emotions and feelings. Again I use results from neuroscience and my own observations to further my arguments.

Is Niceness Enough? – This is going to be an ethical blog posting. It will start with Aristotle’s virtue ethics, which I have already written about in What Did Aristotle Mean?. Its main purpose is to see if niceness is a possible guiding virtue in living a morally acceptable life.

Are Our Morals Biological? – This blog post is going to argue that morality is based on our biology and developed because of evolution. So, part of this exploration is going to focus on evolutionary psychology. Our morality is produced in the main by are emotions/feelings and are cognitive reasoning, or so I will argue.

What Is Wrong with a Paradox? – There are all kinds of paradoxes, and at least a few books devoted to them that I am aware of. I will in this post claim that we need to be able to live with various paradoxes in our lives. I will leave aside for the most part the logical aspects and try to see how we can live with them. It is mainly an exploration of how pragmatism is the best approach when dealing with live questions and actions, a la William James, based on his ideas, but developed in my own way.

Can You Color Your Way to Good Health? – This blog post is going to explore nutrition, for which I am not expert (I hold no degree in nutrition science). But, I just wonder if you do eat a variety of colored fruits and vegetables whether you will be healthier than if you did not.

Is god Against Humor? – Some claim that god, or the Christian god in particular, does not like humor. This post will explore what I know from the Bible, theologians, philosophers, and other writers about whether or not god has a sense of humor, or is even against it. I know that the Bible describes Sarah as laughing, but it does not seem to be approved of by god.

What Is Eliminative Materialism? – This blog posting will be about how I view this particular type of philosophy of mind. I will do some comparisons with other views. I will mainly explore it in relationship to Paul and Patricia Churchlands’ version of it. I have touch on it in two other blog posts ( Why Are People Afraid of Their Brain?; Is Strong AI Possible?), but this one will be dedicate to it alone.

If a Quantum Event Needs No Cause, Why Would the Universe Need One? – This is another blog post that will argue against a deist god as a creator of the universe. I have been told that quantum field theory does not run into a problem of causation, but determinism is still in place. I cannot say I was fully convince of this, but I am not that familiar with this theory as opposed to the “old” quantum mechanics, which I have somewhat greater familiarity with. Anyway, I will argue that just determinism eliminates the need for a creator god, not that you even need this argument, since there are a number of others that I gave in my earlier blog (Why Deism Is Not the Answer?).

Want to Bit? – In this blog post I will explore whether or not the universe is information. This is an ontological claim. It is similar to the claim that the universe is mathematics. Up until now I have not accepted either claim. I do want to read something more about this view, since I am not as familiar with it as with the mathematical claim, which I reject. So, actually writing this post may take some time to do.

Am I a Part of It All? – One evening I look up into the night sky with its multitudes of stars and its great expanse, and then I thought how I was just some insignificant speck in comparison to the great size of the universe, but nevertheless, I thought, I was part of it all. If I ever had a mystical experience, this would be it, except it did not change my life in the least bit. Anyway, I thought I might expand on the idea of this experience, hence wanting to write this post.

2525, Is “Man” Still Alive? – If your old enough you may remember this song; although, at the moment I do not remember who did it. I have the “Man” in scare quotes because in today’s language it would be either man and woman, or maybe just humans. Anyway, I thought I would explore what might be in store for the human race in the future.

Are Fractals Art? – As a “former” fractal artist, you think I might claim that it is. The image at the top of my home page and at the top of this page is two of my works, and I shall probably have several others of them in the post. So, ultimately you may decide, hopefully influenced by my writing and fractal images here. Well, I probably do consider fractal art art, but my post will explore it nevertheless, and who knows I might have some qualms about it.

Is the Bible Morally Worth It? – A lot of people think that the Bible is a good basis for moral behavior. The believer, of course, believes it is the word of god. However, I am going to take god out of the equation and explore some of the ethical principles that maybe in the Bible. Some believers maybe surprise. Of course, I am not a biblical scholar, so my knowledge of the Bible comes in part as a former Christian (and now an atheist), who bothered to read the Bible. I have read through the Bible twice. I did not put two and two together at the time (I was god drunk), and I have also read parts of it as an atheist, which, surprising to some, gave me more insight to what the Bible actually says.

“What’s That Doing There?“ asked the Cat. – Or, Baxter. Cats seem to be fussy about their environment, and when something changes, such as moving a piece of furniture, they can get perplexed, pissy, and worried among other emotional states, or so it seems. But, this post will not just be about that. It is mainly an imaginative exercise of what Baxter thinks. Of course, I do not have a very good idea of what he is actually thinking; it would take another cat for that, and that might fail too.

Is It Rational to (or can you) Base Your Morals on God? – This blog post will look at whether it is even possible to base your moral behavior on God. Among some of the questions are: how do know what is god’s will in relation to your moral actions?; how does god determine what is morally correct?; and are sacred scriptures any help?

What Fence Are You Sitting on? – This blog post will explore taking an agnostic position on various beliefs you do not know if you should hold them or not. It will take a pragmatic track on how one is to act when she or he are in an agnostic position.

Could Religion Begin with a Fear Response? – Are we scared into believing in god? I am not talking just of a fear of hell. Could it be that the original reason for a belief in god would be the need to turn to a comforter when we are scared and do not know what to do. Admittedly, this will take some research to back up why I think the fear response maybe the reason people turn to god. Some people may even be afraid of this explanation.

Are We Just a Probability? – I will present the case that are existence is only probable, which disagrees with our own sense of self, and Descartes “I think, therefore I am.”

Is Realism Real? – This blog posting will explore some types of realism. These types will mainly be mathematical realism and scientific realism. Both are concerned with where truth resides. They are opposed as to the realm in which they reside. Mathematical realism has it that mathematical truths reside in some kind of Platonic realm, where as, scientific truths reside in the physical world, ultimately residing in particles and forces.

Can Mean People Be Happy? – This will be another post on ethics. From casual observation (meaning I have not look more fully into this) mean people do not seem like the happiest puppies in the world. Maybe, if they were cats. I mean look at Hitler. He never seems happy. Or take Hannibal Lecter. Does he ever appear happy? So in this post I will try to look a little harder.

What is so Great about Jesus? – This will be a rather caustic post in some people’s eyes. While Jesus of the Bible does or says some admirable things, I do not think he is all that admirable. I fully admit that I am not a biblical scholar, so this is a very impressionistic ponder.

What is Truth? – [First a disclaimer—I am not Pilate.] Truth can be slippery, or so it seems. Is there a possibility that there are different types of truths? I am not talking about relativism where truth is determined by the individual or culturally provided. Offhand I can think of two types of truth. They are logical and factual. I will do my best and not lie. But, seriously I will do my amateur philosopher’s best to provide a decent answer.

Is Cynicism a Realistic Philosophical Position? – I was on my morning walk, and I came across an orange tabby cat lying in the sun, and it reminded me of the painting TheSchool of Athens where Diogenes is front and center lying in the sun’s rays reading a book. Because of this thought, I thought I could do a post on how effective cynicism is in life and philosophy. This is somewhat of a personal post because I had a great deal of cynicism in my own life—”the yeah, but” syndrome at one time. So, will you not join me in the Sun?

Is Language a Sense Organ? – I am coming to believe; although, I am not quite there, so I think, that we do not think in language. As a step in this direction I will explore the possibility that a major reason we have the language capabilities that we do is that language senses our thought. An odd idea certainly, but why not? We sense the written word and oral language with our senses of sight and sound. We also have some other internal senses such as of body movements, and although under our radar of consciousness our brain senses what our internal organs are up to, which sometimes we become conscious of as a racing heart or labored breathing.

What Is Consciousness For? – This is a big one—and nobody seems to no for sure, or at least they do not agree. Some conclude that it is an epiphenomenon (i.e. it serves no causal purpose, it is just something thrown in there as part of a package deal). My main notion, which I will attempt to, at least partially elucidate, is that consciousness is our magnifying glass. It is used to focus our attention on things that have some importance in living our lives.

How Important Is Godel’s Theorem? – You can hear a lot about how important Kurt Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem is. This includes the postmodernist crowd. However, there are more mainstream scholars (e.g. mathematicians, physicists, and philosophers) who think it has great importance both inside and outside mathematics. I feel that a lot of this is misplaced, even within mathematics. Granted, I am not myself a scholar, but nonetheless I feel I have some valid points to make, and I will attempt to do so in this post.

Could I Use a Little Reducing? – I believe that a complete reduction to sub-atomic particles and the forces that govern their interaction is theoretically possible for all phenomenon. That we ever will actually reach such a reduction is very doubtful. But, it accounts for my attraction to eliminative materialism. So, in this post I will wonder around in my thoughts and see if I am just a reduction.

What Do I Value and Why? – This blog post will explore what I value and why—obvious from the title, right. Because it will be on what I value, it will be a personal blog. But, I will argue for why I find these values important in my life, so the post will not be void of philosophical content.

Are Morals Indeterminate? – In this blog posting, as a moral subjectivist, I will claim that what is right and wrong is indeterminate. However, I will also explain why this does not leave us adrift. Like David Hume, I believe that we act because of moral feelings. Unlike Hume, I do not think this excludes reasoning. This whole route is in line with my belief that it us who give meaning to the world that I elucidated (hopefully) in my blog – What Do You Mean?. Of course, this is an exploration of these ethical notions, but my reasons for accepting my position is growing.

What is Intuition?– In this blog posting I will explore my concept of intuition. This concept is at present only partially formed. My first stab at a definition was in the early 1990s. Back then I saw it as a process from sensing to feeling to intuition. I could still hold to this, but it needs more hashing out. At the same time as I was forming these notions I developed the position that we were questioning and spiritual (not in a belief god sense) beings, making up a tripartite picture of human beings. But, here I will concentrate on intuition.

Are Nice People Happy? – A companion piece to “Can Mean People Be Happy?” If mean people are incapable of being happy, are nice people automatically happy. I use happy not in the happy at the moment sense, but in the overall happiness of a life lived being. As one who strives to be nice, I will include some of my own self-awareness of my emotional states in this post.